


How can we change things?

by Trtrtrtr



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: a lot of conversations in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 23:13:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trtrtrtr/pseuds/Trtrtrtr
Summary: His scheme went rather slickly, which he was rather pleased, except for the tiny little problem called Tony Stark, who was now standing outside his prison cell, giving him a look that was quite hard to figure out.





	How can we change things?

 

 

Loki was being confined in a glass cylinder at the very center of Shield’s headquarter, and closely dissected.

 

His scheme went rather slickly, which he was rather pleased, except for the tiny little problem called Tony Stark, who was now standing outside his prison cell, giving him a look that was quite hard to figure out.

 

“Can I help you with anything, man of iron?” Loki asked.

 

He didn’t expect of all the people in that little boy band ran by a bald man with an eyepatch, they chose to assign Tony Stark to handle him. Well, not that he was afraid. Hawkeye had told him all what he needed to be aware of before he decided to attack Shield straight from the inside. But something was really amiss here. For Stark was not in his iron suit. And a person like him was far more fancy and haphazard to wear a uniform looked exactly like what those Shield agents escorting him to this cell wore. Like the man was sneaking in, instead of going in under permission.

 

And was he imagining things? Because Stark appeared to be a little bit older, if it was even feasible.

 

“Long time no see, Loki.” The voice was somehow lacking its usual smugness, and it itched Loki not to know what thread they were pulling.

 

“I’m sorry. Didn’t we just meet half an hour ago?”

 

“Yeah. About that... It wasn’t me. I mean, it was me, of course. But it was me of six years ago. Listen, tiny God. Something real bad had happened in the future and we kinda had to go back to the past and fix it.” He shifted and waved his hands impatiently, as if the nonsense he was talking about was indeed the truth.

 

“Whatever game you are playing, mortal, keep in mind that I shall not fall for it.”

 

That couldn’t be true. Did he really look like a maniac to them? To send this man and chattered about, what, time-travel? Norns, he came here to rule, not for this bullshit. If they ever thought that this would falter him, then they were even stupider creatures than he thought.

 

“Right, right. Nat told me you are far too clever and skeptical to be easily induced by that. In that case, I’ll have to be more persuasive, which really isn’t my type but okay, I can do it.”

 

“Entertain me, then.” Loki gave up. It was better to let he say whatever he wanted then rejected him, than trying to shut him down. Stark was too supercilious and too obstinate to be deal with by that method. That he was told.

 

“I know about your scheme, Loki. More like we sent Nat here to interrogate you and in one of your letting-your-guard-down moments, you revealed it to her, inadvertently. You wanted to provoke Banner, you wanted the big guy, didn’t you? You thought he would get very angry when he found out this particular prison was built for him, which he actually did. Smart plan, I’ll give you that. It disbanded us, but only for a moment because in the end, we still managed to beat you and the army you borrowed from outer space.”

 

That was, uhm, indeed his plan. How in the Norns these simple mortals could work it out in such short time? Perhaps after all they were not so brainless. He just needed to plot something else, or be subtler. Unless…

 

Loki grimaced. They might know about his intention toward the hulk, but there was no way in hell they knew about the Chitauri. Unless… But this couldn’t be accurate.

 

“I will not lose.”

 

“Oh, you will. I have to tell you it wasn’t a pleasant experience but it happened anyway. And there is no need to experience it again, isn’t it? Listen, Loki. I know you are still having doubts. Of course you are. I’ll be like you if someday some dude emerged and told me he came from the future. But listen, we don’t have much time till they spot and override my overriding their system, I was still a genius back then. But to cut this short, we know who sent you here...”

 

He said all that without a break and Loki really wanted to lecture him that if he ever wished to convince someone, he had to slow down a little bit but he wouldn’t do so since he just heard something that he was certain the mortal wasn’t supposed to know.

 

“What did you just say?” Now things was quite slipped out of his acquiesce and he couldn't afford that.

 

“We know Thanos sent you here in exchange for the Tesseract. He loses it now but he will have it in the future. And what he does with it is quite… nasty.”

 

It wasn’t the word Stark had aimed for, Loki knew, due to the horror and remorse expressions his face showed. He hid it quickly but Loki saw it all the same.

 

And oddly enough, his fear of being exposed by a mortal was lesser than his fear of knowing what Stark had said maybe the truth. He wasn’t completely convinced by all of it, but sill.

 

“Why sent you? Why came to me when there are tons of people up here who can solve your problem?” He asked Stark.

 

“You meant _why not send Thor_? He wanted to go, Gods, he even threatened us. But we were all frightened that if we let him, he couldn’t talk you into it, knowing both of you. Gods, I bet that if he was here right now, nothing would be done till we run out of time because the guy would indubitably just hug you and tell you how much he missed you and how much he felt regret not being able to protect you…”

 

“What?” Loki uttered in suspect.

 

“Yeah, about that, he kinda… lost you in our time. He tried not to show it but it was kinda sorta hard not to see how much it… damaged him.”

 

“How come he lost me?”   _It isn’t like he has me, or ever wants to._

 

“Long story. And the short version of it is it wasn’t only you who he lost. But losing you seemed to be the only thing that he couldn’t get over. Here, I have something for you.” He pressed codes on the monitoroutside the cell and the glass wall opened. The man handed him some sort of device, quick guide on how to activate it and then stepped out hastily.

 

“And about your later question. You were not out first choice but we again, all approved that you were easier to get access to and reason with than any of us, to be honest. Me, I was too strong-headed. So was Rogers. And Nat, she was just like you, too suspicious. So you ended up being our last and only choice if we wanted this to succeed. Don’t disappoint us.”

 

“It was not my duty to satisfy any of you.” Loki scorned.

 

“Just watch it first, will you? Now I have another business to take care of. Will be back in a few minutes.”

 

And just like that, he sneaked out, leaving Loki with that device and a feeling that whatever awaited him in it was not good.

 

And as it turned out, it was not bad either. Thor’s face popped out as soon as he turned it on. It was Thor who he was looking at, but somehow it wasn’t, at the same time. Thor would never have a hair like that. He adored that long, golden hair so much that never once, in more than one thousand years growing up together, Loki had seen he let anyone touch it besides mother. And him.

 

He didn’t look at all like the Thor that Loki used to see through till now, either.

 

The reckless and quite childish feature of his was all gone, saving its place for the mature one. It stunned him.

 

How grown Thor had been.

 

But the tiredness that radiated from him was noticeable. The bags under his eyes were noticeable. So as the feeling of losses and burdens weighted on those sturdy shoulders, showing in those bluest eyes.

 

As if Thor had just lost the greatest battle of his life. As if Thor had just lost something so vital to him that as he heard Thor called his name, it stirred something inside him that he thought had long dead.

 

As if he yearned to do it, calling Loki’s name for so long now it came out with so much emotions it startled them both.

 

Then he heard Thor said he was sorry. For a lot of things.

 

Like how he not being able to be here even though he fought real hard for it. But it was the entire universe that was counting on him, not only his emotion.

 

Like how he preferred to say all this to Loki frontally instead of doing so through a tablet.

 

Like how he was not being able to protect Loki when Thanos hurt him.

 

Like how much he missed and wanted to see him.

 

And for many things more.

 

_“I’m sure you would call me sentimental by the time this ends”, he made an attempt to chuckle but it came out more like a choke. “You actually do that later on, when we fight at the roof of Stark’s mansion. I know I’m asking too much of you right now, without giving you any assurance. Brother, it’s okay if you feel uncertainties. And it’s okay if you don’t want to stick to this plan because how much of an ass I was to you back then. They’ll probably kill me if they know I say that to you but it didn’t matter. Because either we kill Thanos or Thanos kill us, it would always end up with me finding you.”_

 

Loki couldn’t tell why he was crying but he was and the worst part was he didn’t even try to fight it. Perhaps it was that part inside him that was demanding attention, finding comforts in Thor’s words. The part where he hid all his grieves and suffers from being alone, being tortured in the past two years. The part in which he furtively concealed his thousand years of love.

 

He was well conscious about the fact that the Loki that Thor was referring to, the Loki that had Thor long for like this wasn’t him. Yet. But it was Thor all the same. And it was Loki all the same.

 

So by the time Stark got back, Loki returned the tablet, requesting for a presentment of the plan. It was quite ingenuous. All he was required to do was attaching some sort of advanced tracking device to the Tesseract after breaking it. And to break it necessitated a great source of power, which could only be possessed by Thor.

 

There for illuminating this madness to Thor could sum up their whole scheme fairly. Simple, isn’t it? Just a little talk with Thor then it’d be done.

 

He sighed.

 

***

 

 

Later on, when the Black Widow came knocking on the door, Loki demanded to have a word with his _adopted_ brother. Yeah, he would never let that one go.

 

And later on, when Stark and Lang returned to the future, he gave the tablet to Thor.

 

And later on, when Thor turned on the tablet, Loki’s face popped up. Just the mere image of him was enough to make hot tears rained down from Thor’s one good eye.

 

_“I’m as stupid as now you to even trust this.”_

 

There was an insanely long pause before he spoke again and the interval was filled with Thor’s perpetually wiping out the tears.

 

_“Stark said you lost me in your time, was that true?”_

 

Thor nodded, even though he really hoped it wasn’t.

 

_“Was it Thanos, who killed me?”_

Hatred burned Thor’s whole being.

_“They said if I failed, there would be no realm, no barren moon, no crevasse where they couldn’t find me. Guess they were serious then. Do you believe if I said I didn’t truly want to invade this planet? I mean, I do, partly. Just want to see what is this it has that you seem to love it so much… that you didn’t even try to find me, that you just straightforwardly assumed I hated you even though I told you never to doubt my… love.”_

 

Thor wanted to ask about that other part in him which didn’t crave to rule. Because deep down, it was still a plain fact that mischief was after all Loki’s thing, not war nor killing. But the desire to ask died as he heard those last words.

 

_“And now you just sent your mortal friend here to tell me the universe was in danger and it needed my aid but you didn’t even bother to show up? Really clever, Thor. Didn’t it occur to you that if it was our last chance of seeing each other, I… I wanted to do it, too? You are still too dense to understand it, aren’t you? No matter how much you’ve changed. Guess I’ll just have to be the smarter one between the two of us, as always. I’ll do as you and your friends wish. If it doesn’t work, then it’s the fate of the universe. And if it works but somehow you still lost me, then you… have to find me, one way or another, like you promised. Deal?”_

 

Just like that, the recorded video ended. But hopes found its way back to Thor’s life once more.

 

 

 


End file.
